How to Dig Up a Dictator

Thirty miles northwest of Madrid lies one of Europe's largest mass graves. Inside a massive underground basilica blasted into a mountain, the remains of over 34,000 people who “fell for God and Spain” rest in honor alongside the man largely responsible for putting them there: General Francisco Franco, Spain's authoritarian ruler of 36 years. On a recent afternoon visit, both international tourists and a few Spaniards marveled at the immense size of the cavernous structure, which revealed signs of neglect through discolored walls and a leaky ceiling. Fresh flowers and roses adorned Franco's tomb, a gray slab of concrete on the floor ringed by black marble: a tribute to one of the 20th century's most notorious dictators.